OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, APR 25, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Erected the ecclesiastical province of Montes Claros, Brazil, with territory taken from the ecclesiastical provinces of Brasilia and Diamantina, elevating the same episcopal see to metropolitan church, and assigning as suffragans the dioceses of Janauba, Januaria, and Paracatu. He appointed Bishop Geraldo Majela de Castro, O.Praem, of Montes Claros, as first metropolitan archbishop of the new ecclesiastical province. The archbishop-elect was born in Montes Claros in 1930, ordained to the priesthood in 1953, and raised to the order of bishop in 1982.

- Accepted the resignation of Bishop Jose Goncalves Heleno from the pastoral care of Governador Valadares, Brazil, in conformity with canon 401, para. 2, of the Code of Canon Law.

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